By Mike Kinosian
Managing Editor
TALKERS
LOS ANGELES — Our in-depth overview of "Holiday" 2016 PPM results concludes with a summary of country.
Previous similar spotlights focused on adult contemporary (Monday, 2/6) and hot AC (Tuesday, 2/7).
An overwhelming majority of adult contemporary stations played all-Christmas music the majority of this sweep. It is therefore hardly surprising that, among these three formats, AC claims the most prolific (6+) market rank (#3.15) and boasts the strongest (6+) share (10.12). In an especially stunning stat, 83% of ACs in our sample rank in their respective markets' top five (6+).
Meanwhile, hot AC (#9.41 and 4.11, 6+) edges out country (#10.04 and 3.85, 6+) for second-place in (6+) market rank and market share, respectively.
Even though it has the largest sample size, country is the only one of these three formats without a #1 representative in any of the 48 PPM-markets ("Holiday" 2016, 6+): AC is #1 in an astonishing 38 cases, while a hot AC ranks first in three PPM-markets (6+, "Holiday" 2016).
Breakouts below consist of data from country outlets that rank in the top 20 in any PPM market (6+, "Holiday" 2016).
Over and above that particular ratings caveat is another parameter: Nielsen Audio only releases audience estimates for stations that subscribe to its services. For that reason, ratings stats in this analysis are limited to stations that pay Nielsen Audio for its data.
